It doesn't help that Windows 8 is a steaming pile of fail. If MS would continue to support the last stable OS instead of forcing XP users to upgrade at gun point, then its PC market may not be suffering. Of course, in the quest for ever larger profit margins, stability is routinely sacrificed.

Don't forget additional layer of consumer confusion induced by Surface RT/Surface Pro, that has now been GREATLY exacerbated by the new names Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro, as if these latter two are a compatible family with the junior member being slightly slower but otherwise the same.

Microsoft used to have good relations with Telcos (Verizon, ATT, etc) whose technology back end is Unix/Linux based. People and Companies don't buy Phones, they buy wireless services from the Telcos who offer discounted communications products i.e. phones. Few people and companies pay full retail. Microsoft refuses to build a Hardware Abstraction Layer for devices, the only one that Microsoft built and maintains is x86. AMD wrote the x64 HAL. Other Windows CPU architectures died because those CPU makers failed to maintain a HAL for Windows. Microsoft has refused to build a HAL for ARM or MIPS et al.However Google does write a HAL for Android.

In the past Microsoft has created hardware to bolster its software business, example being MS Mouse, Natural Keyboard and Windows Sound System. When MS forked the NT5 code to Xbox, the purpose was to bolster DirectX for Gaming; but with massive cash support it is now a juggernaut of its own. Surface and Windows Phone are attempts to increase market share of mobile (Note Windows CE had a respectable market share before Android and iPhone). Ballmer was a marketing VP at Pepsi; mimes the Dilbert cartoon about overcoming product failure with Marketing. Microsoft did not back this play with cash or time (how many years for Xbox?). And were any previously successful Microsoft devices marketed by poor quality TV ads. Have any Microsoft TV ads been memorable except for their Failure? Apple iPod/iPhone commercials came on after they hit market saturation. Their initial success was through person-to-person (not online) buzz.

I appreciate information from people who have used the Surface Pro. For whatever reason, it seems folks who love other tablets are using social media and fun apps rather than dealing with complex Excel spreadsheets, database development, and WordPerfect (yes, I hate Word and love WordPerfect because it gives me absolute control over documents because it always has given you access to code much like html only before there was html).

Regarding music and photos and books and the cloud and social network sites, yeah I do some of that. But I also like to be effectively productive so I won't do Twitter, texting, or any other thing that allows anyone to interrupt my train of thought anytime and everyplace I am. When did we become a nation of people that like being interrupted while working or talking with someone in front of you or at dinner or....?

I simply don't buy the idea Steve Jobs made our lives better in a way that allows us to make better choices and more productive human beings.

I love my Surface Pro. It has replaced my laptop and is much easier to carry around and use while I am moving around. The laptop could never do that, but the surface does everything my lap top could do.

You say Microsoft should get out of the Device business, but it was their "Device Partners" that forced them in. Until Microsoft produced the Surface and worked with Nokia to produce the new Windows phones, the Hardware companies were producing poorly designed hardware for windows tablets and phones, that no one wanted to buy. Their Device Partners were killing Microsoft. Bill Gates envisioned the Tablet (Slate) long ago, but couldn't get cooperation. Apple took his Idea and because they produce the hardware and OS, they could produce a quality product people would buy. Now with the Surface Microsoft raised the ante, and their device partners have stepped up and produced much better devices, that is starting (yes, just Starting) to generate interest. They lost a lot of ground waiting for their device partners to step up, don't expect people to flock back to them immediately. That is going to take time, years, not days or weeks, or even months. YEARS to repair the damage done. Their "Loyal Device Partners" flocked to Android, leaving Microsoft to writhe in pain and slowly begin to die. Microsoft was FORCED to get into the device business, and if they get out they are committing suicide. They are positioning themselves to drive not only the software, but the hardware innovation as well. Everyone wins. Their is plenty of room for the Device Partners to produce, because with Microsoft it is still an open market, unlike Apple which does not allow their OS to be used on non-Apple produced devices.Running a company like Microsoft requires long range thinking, not just the immediate. They are finally moving in the only direction that has a long term future if they are gong to stay relevant in the consumer market.

I guess we see what we want to see? PC sales might be down year over year but they account for 91% of web traffic. Microsoft may only have 3% of the phone market but it's been growing at a good rate for the last 18 months and over the same time Apple has been falling. WP8 also accounts for more than 10 percent of the smart phones in Europe and it's growing. I am really not seeing how you can come to the conclusion that MS is tracking downward after the last 18 months. I would, and have put my money behind MS because of the trends in it's products.

As InformationWeek Government readers were busy firming up their fiscal year 2015 budgets, we asked them to rate more than 30 IT initiatives in terms of importance and current leadership focus. No surprise, among more than 30 options, security is No. 1. After that, things get less predictable.